Hummingbirds - what to look for?

[Linwood Ferguson]

http://captivephotons.com/Nature/Butterfly-World/Broad-Tailed-Hummingbird-5/827348359_us8X8-L.jpg


Went with some friends from a local club to Butterfly World in Coral Springs florida. They also have birds.

I was carrying around a 200-400mm on a D300, and they do not allow tripos, much less are there really particular locations. Plus I have never tried doing hummingbirds in flight.

The above was one of about 5 that were decent, with 50 or so that were mostly empty space where they had been, or tails or wings as they left the frame.

This was 1/320th @ f8 @ IOS400 with a SB800 on TTL-BL, manual exposure (letting the flash and where needed auto-iso picking up the difference). I somehow had VR off -- not sure how that happened, didn't realize until I got back and looked at the metadata -- that explains a lot of the blurs in other shots.

What does one look for in a hummingbird shot? I realize it is a matter of taste, but generally speaking wings stopped in motion or blurred? Sideways (I have a couple completely perpendicular)? I rather liked this coming more head on. Other hints?

I was up to F8 and still couldn't get the whole bird in focus - at this range I could probably have gotten a couple more stops but the background just goes black. And while I could sync above 320th, the power is gone. Do people usually use multiple flashes, to get some back light? Or just find very bright sun?

What's a bit interesting is the focus -- the focus point was on the tail behind the feet (by accident), yet the head was sharp. Lucky mistake somehow.

I went back in with a 70-200 figuring I could follow them better and they must have been on a break -- not a single one. What lense would you recommend for hummingbirds? Longer or shorter?

Any advice welcomed. If you want to see some of the other denizens of Butterfly World, I posted other shots here: http://captivephotons.com/Nature/Butterfly-World Nice place if you want a variety of birds on the loose you could not get otherwise without a LOT of travel. But no tripods or monopods.

Oh... I think but am not sure it is a Broad Tailed Hummingbird, going by the pictures on site there.

Linwood

[Desmond Chan]

I used a macro and manual focus for this one, hand-held. But I was able to get close and knew pretty much where the hummingbird would hover though. I pre-focused and did minor adjustment before I pressed the shutter button. Auto focus could be slow sometimes as it could be spending too much time hunting. And where you're close, the DOF will be small anyway. I find it's relatively easy to shoot the hummingbirds when they're hovering and/or feeding. They're pretty much stationary at that moment.

http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=15436 (http://www.birdphotographers.net/forums/showthread.php?t=15436)

Then another choice would be multiple-flashes, too, with detailed set-up, trap, etc., I guess. And you could get magnificent results out of that.

[Lance Peters]

The definitive guide - nothing else like it... By our very own Linda Robinns.
https://store.birdsasart.com/shop/item.aspx?itemid=55

Couple of things - A Better Beamer will improve your flash output - fits over the head of the flash and magnifies the flash effect - some say a 2-3 stop improvement - with high speed sync flash for every stop over stnd sync speed you loose a stop of power - add the better beamer and it gives a little bit of wiggle room.

You said -" The focus point was on the tail behind the feet" - Cant see how that can be, that area does not appear to be in focus????
The other thing to note is - the closer you are to the action - the faster the shutter speed required to freeze the action (Non Flash) and the closer you are with a telephoto lens the smaller the DOF - SO as you get closer you can close down a little and not make much difference to the BG.

:)

[Linwood Ferguson]

You said -" The focus point was on the tail behind the feet" - Cant see how that can be, that area does not appear to be in focus????
:)

I can't explain it, but I looked in ViewNX and noticed the focus point was showing back on the (OOF) tail. I guess the focus system screwed up in the right driection?

Though having said that -- if the dynamic focus tracked the bird and shifted the focus point off where it was set in the viewfinder, which shows in ViewNX -- the point set in the viewfinder or the one selected?

[Dave Mills]

I was at Butterfly world recently and shooting HB can be a real challenge there. Very difficult getting a clean backround. You do have an opportunity to get pretty close to your subject though.

[Alfred Forns]

Hi Ferguson

I shoot there a few times a year and it is a challenge !! Shot both Canon and Nikon On the Nikon side the lens I did the best was the 300 f4.0 with a 1.4X Focusing wise you will not have a problem since you can't follow them in flight. Most will be hovering when taken.

The only way I have found to get them is setting on for a bg and hoping the bird will stop by. The entrance right by the door seems to be the best spot ... all will depend on the food/flowers.

Tech wise I try to go wide open for blurring the bg and ISO wise just try having it high enough for a shutter speed of 1/500 .. any more and the flash won't reach !! Actually you can calculate your flash reach and set to "one to one" then adjust for power increasing the shutter speed.

Lots of fun there but frustrating !! Sure wish we could use a monopod !!!